


Later

by variableIntroversion



Series: After The End Of The World [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Blood, Bro isn't a piece of shit in this AU, Dave's POV, End of sburb/sgrub, Gen, Guardian revival AU, Happy Ending, Hugging, dirk's pov, major character death 'cause the guardians were all dead, note the past-tense, ret-con powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-02-07 12:44:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21458275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/variableIntroversion/pseuds/variableIntroversion
Summary: A guy with reality-bending powers, a girl with the power to resurrect the dead, and a whole lot of kids who are sorely lacking in guardians. If you've got the will and a way, why not exploit it a little?
Relationships: Dave's Bro | Beta Dirk Strider & Dave Strider, Dirk's Bro | Alpha Dave Strider & Dirk Strider, Rose Lalonde/Kanaya Maryam
Series: After The End Of The World [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1528694
Comments: 2
Kudos: 106





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The first half of this fic gave me a damn heart attack when the file corrupted. Nearly three thousand words down the drain. So fucking lucky I back up my work obsessively. 
> 
> Also, sorry again for any lower quality. NaNo means I can't spend as long on editing as I normally would. But on the bright side, that means I can keep pushing out content!

"So you can just jump to any point in the timeline and do whatever the fuck you want without ruining everything." You summarize. Your voice is as flat with disbelief as your expression, but John seems completely unbothered by it. That Egbertian cheer doesn't dampen easily, even after three years of all this bullshit.

"I guess so! Terezi had me doing all kinds of stuff once I got the hang of it. I mean, a lot of it was just stupid trollish stuff that didn't actually _do_ anything, but I don't think I messed anything up." John shrugs, sending a brief scowl that looks more like a pout across the lily pad, to where Terezi seems to be occupied with that troll/god-cat sprite. Somehow, for some reason you juuust can't put your finger on, you suspect it wasn't all as pointless as he's making it out to be.

"Cool, so can you bring stuff with you when you zap through reality with reckless abandon?" You should probably not take John at his word about not causing doomed timelines, but honestly? The guy's had these powers and mucked around long enough that even with Terezi's direction, he probably woulda caused some serious issues by now if he could. And frankly, this maybe-false hope clawing at you is making it pretty damn hard to care.

"What? Uh, I guess? I don't think I had any trouble with that." John frowns at you, squinting in that goofy, overblown way that you know is somehow still sincere. "Why?"

"Think you could bring a person with you?"

"Huh? I mean, yeah, probably, but why would I do that? Can't you use your time powers to go whenever you want anyway?" The suspicion's given away completely to bafflement, and you indulge yourself in a totally justifiable face palm.

"Jegus fuck Egbert, not me. Could you grab our guardians' corpses and bring them here?" You aren't answered quickly, which is enough to cut your hand to face maneuver short. John's looking pretty uncomfortable, still pretty confused, and his shoulders have crept one or three inches upwards.

"Uh, why would I do that, exactly...?" He mumbles it, and you think he'd zap clean out of this conversation, if he were slightly less...him.

"Because. We have a perfectly good Maid of Life who can bring dead people back to life, and-"

"OH MY GOD." John's ecstatic bellow draws about half of the lily pad crowd's attention. Your face is as blank as a piece of printer paper, but it's maybe really hard to maintain that with Egbert beaming at you with all the unbridled joy of a puppy that just got adopted. "Dave! Daaave!!! Oh my God!!" He grabs your shoulders, practically bouncing in place, and okay, maybe your lips do twitch upwards just a bit.

"May I ask what exactly John's latest display of mania is about?" Rose asks, lifting an eyebrow at you like some kind of facial question mark.

"Was just asking Egbert if he could snag us some guardian corpses for Jane to revive." You shrug. You're trying to keep your cool, but honestly you're feeling a little detached from reality right now. You gave up on the idea of seeing Bro again so long ago, it's surreal to consider that you actually might have that chance.

It seems like you're not the only one. Rose looks stunned. Roxy, right beside her, has her mouth open and both eyebrows practically meeting her hairline. Everyone within hearing range (i.e. everyone) who lost a guardian is taking the idea with some level of surprised silence, a few more blatantly than others.

"Is it...possible to do that without disrupting the timeline?" Kanaya is the one to speak up first, and hey, points to her for asking the right questions.

"Should be. Even without the special anti-doom thing he's got going on, it's not like we were using those corpses for anything. No paradoxes to worry about, so long as he grabs them at the right time." You answer. Hell, you yourself could probably snag all of your session's guardians without consequence, if you were careful about it.

"I can totally grab them. Rose, I can get them! I can see my dad again and you can see your mom and Dave can have his bro and Jade can have her grandpa and this is gonna be awesome." John rushes, as if the dude with reality-bending abilities actually needs permission.

"Omg, do you think you could like, sneak in there and snatch up our guardians too?" Roxy pipes up. You could swear her eyes are damn near sparkling. Probably thanks to the idea of meeting her mom and all, but you're gonna have to make sure she doesn't exploit John's zappy thing to steal stuff later. The chick's got a thing for thievery.

"I mean, probably? I don't see why not!" John shrugs, and that's the long and the short of that thought process for him. Oh, to have a simple mind.

"I would recommend that you don't go jumping willy-nilly throughout reality. As much as I would like to see my mother, we shouldn't be reckless with this. 'Anti-doom' powers or not." Rose says. John looks ready to pout, but she raises a hand to stall the inevitable complaining. "I'm not saying we don't, I'm saying that you should accept guidance from those more equipped to navigate such a delicate matter."

"What's so complicated about it? I just jump in after they die, then zap them back!" John frowns, crossing his arms. Petulant, stubborn, and so gog-damn stupid.

"Yeah, why not risk zapping right under Noir's nose. Can't imagine what would go wrong there." You point out flatly. John pauses, just for a moment, and you take the opportunity to press on. "Or maybe right in front of the Batterwitch. Round two: solo duel would be a great sequel after the fight you literally just managed to win with backup."

"Alright, alright, geeeez, I get it. Bluh bluh John can't be trusted with warping reality bluh bluh." Egbert crosses his arms and yep, that is an actual pout now, but at least he isn't about to go blindly zapping around anymore.

"Don't worry, John. Most people can't. Now..." Rose's eyes turn towards you, and you get the very distinct feeling that you're about to get roped into some bullshit. Welp.

* * *

As luck would have it, you did not have to participate in much bullshit. You, Rose, and Terezi fraymotifed, then the flighty broads told John where and when to go. It wasn't particularly climactic when John vanished in a small flash of blue. Or when he showed up again a blink later. It was, however, a little startling that he showed up with two whole corpses in tow.

Your stomach flips itself like a pancake as you look over the bloody cadavers of one Mr. Egbert and one Ms. Lalonde. Or. Well. Get a glimpse of before you promptly avert your eyes, because that's just really something you don't want to look at for too long. You stay back for the most part here, because it doesn't really involve you and there's enough hubbub going on as it is.

Jane, to her credit, takes the reins pretty well. It's obvious that she's nervous, and it occurs to you that she's kind of been put on the spot. Nobody really consulted with her beforehand to see if she was up to a bit more corpse-repair, and nobody seemed to consider the possibility that she wouldn't be able to revive the guardians. Your stomach drops at the idea, as if the poor thing hasn't already been through enough, and you catch yourself holding breath as cyan blue glows at the edge of your vision.

The whoop from John and excited babble from the other onlookers tells you it worked long before your eyes dart back over. Egbert Senior is sitting up, looking ruffled and a bit thrown for a loop, but he's got his arms around John and seems to be pretty happy to let the kid cling to him. Rose is trying to appear prim, kneeling next to her mother, but that goes right out the window when she gets dragged into a bear hug. It's pretty sweet, honestly. God knows those two deserve to have their parents back.

It takes a little while before John's up to going for the remaining guardians. He had to calm down and stop crying and talking his dad's ear off first. Once that's over with, though, he almost seems more determined and eager to finish the job. He's off in another uneventful blink, back in another, and-

And you nearly puke again, because for as much time as you spent staring at it on LOWAS, the sight of Bro's body still hits you like a ton of bricks. You clench your fists until your nails threaten to cut your palms, just for a few seconds, then force your hands to go slack. It's impossible to tear your eyes away this time, as much as you'd like to. It's a wonder how you keep a straight face at all.

A warm hand presses against your shoulder. You stiffen, don't flinch, and look to the side quickly to find Karkat looking at you with as much open concern as he's capable of in a crowd. You don't say anything, but maybe you do drift a little closer to him as you watch Jane step forwards and extend a hand over Bro's body, as if she's shoving the life back into him.

Bright cyan blue coats her hand a split second before it jumps to Bro. It's almost startling, how quickly the white-bright energy engulfs him, until all you can see is a pale silhouette of your guardian. Just for a couple seconds, and then it's receding, leaving behind a clean white shirt and not a spot of blood.

Bro's first act in his newly revived body is to shoot to his feet so fast, he practically teleports upright. His face is blank but his jaw is set stiffly. You can see him reach for his strife deck, but it's empty, of course it's empty, and that's your cue to step in. Before the dude gives himself a heart attack and keels over again.

"Yo." Your voice sounds rougher than you'd like. Ideally, you'd get through this without seeming affected at all, but that seems to be going right out the window.

Bro's attention snaps over to you as soon as you speak. You wave a hand casually, keep your shoulders loose, so he can read your body language and recognize that he's safe. Must work, because it's like a flip switches in his brain. He straightens and relaxes his posture into something chill but confident, as if he was never feeling threatened at all. Whether that's because of you or because he's realizing that he's got an audience, you couldn't say.

"Sup." He nods at you once, sounding pretty calm - if understandably rough - for a guy who just rose from the dead. You're becoming keenly aware of all the eyes on you, too, and it makes your skin crawl. So you shove a thumb over your shoulder and tip your head slightly, keep face even though your head still feels a bit like it's spinning.

"Wanna blow this joint and go catch up somewhere else?" You can't tell if it's because his fronting is a little weaker than usual thanks to his resurrection, or if hanging out with Dirk has made you more aware of his tells, or if you're just imagining things. But you think you see Bro's shoulders loosen with relief, just by a fraction, and he nods a bit quicker.

"Lead the way."

The ball's in your court now, and you think briefly on which planet you want to chill out on as you lift into the air. Not LOHAC, fuck LOLAR and its bright rainy shit, LOFAF is too damn soggy, and absolutely fucking not LOWAS. By the time Bro's joined you in the air, riding on his rocket board, you've reoriented yourself and aimed for the remnants of LOTAK.

It's a quiet flight, mostly 'cause trying to talk when you're moving at these speeds would be a pain in the ass. Things are still quiet, once you set down on some random skyscraper. You aren't really sure what to say, or how to express how sheerly relieved you are that this whole thing is over and you have Bro back. He's quiet too, at first. Hands in his pockets, looking around, taking stock of the landscape and planetary debris in the sky, but in the end the shades he put on during the flight wind up pointed at you.

"Take it as you won?"

"Yeah. Took three years and way too much bullshit, but. Here we are." You shrug, and you. You don't know what to do here. Right now. After three damn years wishing you could see Bro, trying to get over the idea that you wouldn't, not really, not again, thinking about what you wish you could have said if you had the chance... Here you are, and you don't know what to actually say.

You know what you want to do, though. What you've wanted to do since you found his body on LOWAS, and during the nights on the meteor when things got overwhelming and you laid awake wondering if you were going to actually make it through everything. Dirk indulged you, and that was cool of him, but that was a poor substitute when you've got the original article right here.

"...So I'm gonna do something uncool here for a second. Just like, bear with me." You say. Bro lifts an eyebrow at you, but he holds his ground as you cross the few feet between you. Maybe it is uncool, or maybe you've just goddamn earned it at this point, but either way you don't give a shit. You're putting your arms around this fucker and you're gonna mash your face in his shoulder like the kid you were cheated out of being, and you're gonna just. Hang on to him for a minute. "Sorry." You mumble, though your voice is so muffled thanks to the aforementioned face-mashing that you aren't sure for a second if he'll hear.

Bro doesn't react for a moment, and you're hit with this moment of déjà vu when he does. When you feel his arm, tentative and light at first, settling around your shoulders before it slowly tightens. He and Dirk hug kind of the same, you note, though that doesn't really stay true for long. Bro's other arm joins the mix in a moment, and he's sort of crushing you against him, but that's okay. This is really, really okay, actually.

"Proud of you, kid." He says it quietly, but his lips are close enough to your ear that you hear him no problem. "I'm real damn proud of you." And that just. That just makes your chest glow and maybe sort of makes your eyes a little wet, though you're sure as hell not gonna start crying on him now. You might come dangerously close when he runs his hand through your hair, but it's fine. That's fine, you're just. So fucking relieved to have him again.

You don't trust your voice not to betray you, so you just squeeze a little harder to answer. Bro squeezes back, and pressed against him like this, you think you might feel him silently laugh a little before he bumps his chin against the top of your head.

"Should kick my own ass for makin' you think hugs are uncool."

That startles a small laugh out of you, and it feels like the last dregs of some miserable weight you've been carrying for the last three years get washed away.

"Too bad for you I'm officially outta the time-travelling business. Unless you wanna take a shot at Dirk, but I wouldn't recommend it."

Bro draws back enough to lift an eyebrow at you again, and you'd regret the distance if it weren't for the fact that he's keeping an arm securely around your shoulders. Which is fine by you, because one of your hands is still gripping the back of his shirt and you, uh. Aren't really ready to let go yet.

"There's a whole fuckin' lot to unpack from those two whole sentences."

Wow, yeah. He's behind on three years of a whole lot of bullshit and shenanigans. He only got half a day of Sburb's insanity, so practically everything else is bound to be confusing.

"Yeah. Uh. How about we sit down and I fill you in." You tip your head towards the edge of the rooftop. Bro nods, and you think he'll let go, but nope. He's gonna keep that arm around you even after you both make the short walk and settle down. Sweet. "So..."

You then proceed to detail a very long, very ridiculous story that all started on the day of one dork's thirteenth birthday.


	2. Chapter 2

Dave and his Bro don't linger long. That's unsurprising, you wouldn't want an audience for your potentially emotional reunion, either. Striders don't do public displays of affection across any universe, apparently. You're sure you and your bro will be just as chill and private, once he's here.

...Fuck, that's an intimidating thought. This whole thing is happening so fast that even you're having trouble wrapping your head around it, and there's no way to slow things down. You can't even ask for John to maybe grab your bro last, because that would mean making Roxy wait longer to meet her mom. And whatever trepidation you're feeling, she's clearly free of it. Her eyes are lit up and she's clinging to Rose, looking like she just might explode with excitement, and you don't have the heart (hah. no.) to slow things down for her.

Older Roxy, at least, seems pretty cool. It's clear the enthusiasm and affection didn't wear off across universes, considering that your Rox isn't the only one hanging off of Rose. She looks like she's enjoying the attention, though. You can't say you're too invested in Rose Lalonde, beyond what she means to Roxy, but you can still be glad for her.

That, at least, slightly distracts you from your own nerves.

Jade's grandfather comes next, and damn but it's weird to see how he's Jake, but also not. Or just. Seeing Jake so old, slightly brittle, unfamiliar as much as he is. He's every bit as loud and enthusiastic though, scooping Jade into his arms and swinging her around with a booming exclamation, with a cheery laugh. There aren't open tears in that reunion like there were in Egbert's, but there are definitely glossy eyes. It's touching, if uncomfortable to look at.

John lingers to the side, beaming at the heartfelt scene with his father's hand on his shoulder, until things settle down and the Harleys move off to the side to catch up together. Then he steps back into the center of the platform, checking the list Rose, Dave, and Terezi wrote up for him earlier. You can't make out who's next, and that sends tension running through you. You hold your breath and watch as Egbert blinks out of sight - just for a second, you know by now - and you brace yourself for whatever comes next.

He returns in a flash with two bodies, and you force yourself to take one deep breath before looking squarely at them.

Your first thought is to how similar your bro looks to Dave's, laying there with a bloody hole in his chest.

Your second is less a thought and more a moment of sheer, nervous panic as Jane steps forwards to do the Life thing. You're about to meet your bro. Dave Strider as you knew him best. The man you've idolized and modeled yourself after since the day you discovered him. The legend who waged a war against the Batterwitch, who faced down the ICP, who died fighting to preserve humanity for as long as possible.

Who's shooting to his feet, just as fast as Dave's Bro did. Who's unmistakeably reaching for his (luckily empty) Strife Specibus. Who you should really calm down before he notices the trolls, you realize, armed or not.

"Hey, bro." You greet, and you wonder how you're managing to keep your voice level now. You take a step forward and Dave's head snaps towards you. It's hauntingly similar to- well, you've seen this song and dance already, but you don't think Dave the Younger was half as nervous.

"...Dirk." Your bro says, and. Alright, maybe you weren't expecting him to identify you after barely five seconds of staring. Granted, there are plenty of context and visual clues to help him along, but... Either way, you're tongue tied for a moment here, and you settle for just nodding.

Of all the potential reactions and outcomes, you weren't counting on Dave flash-stepping over to hug you. That's exactly what happens, though, and you can barely keep up with the movement before you're being crushed against his chest. Which is. Well. Striders don't do PDA, unless they're your bro, apparently. Now you couldn't hope to pry him off, and that's. This is. Actually sort of nice, if overwhelming.

"If this is a death hallucination or some shit, I'm gonna be so pissed." Dave mutters. You don't quite smile at that, though you get dangerously close to it.

"Not a hallucination, bro. This shit's more real than Kraft mayo. So I've been told, at least." Was that a laugh? You only heard a little rush of air, but you could feel his chest bounce a bit. You don't get much time to decide, because less than a moment later, Dave's got you at arm's length. That still involves both his hands on your shoulders, though, as he looks you over.

You realize, belatedly, that you're still in your shitty god-tier outfit, and your expression reflexively smooths over as the embarrassment hits you. Not the first impression style-wise you would've liked to make. At least you can make up for it later, though.

The fact that you can make up for it later, that you _have_ a 'later' with your bro, hits you all at once and leaves you feeling a little dizzy, definitely giddy, and absolutely not showing any of that externally.

"You know what, I don't even care about the how. I'll take fuckin' "shenanigans" as an answer long as you and me get some prime hang out time." Dave says, talking quickly in that way that with the younger Dave meant nerves, but... Your bro isn't actually nervous, is he? He's poker faced by now, and every tell you managed to pick up from Dave Jr., you're questioning in him, so you can't tell.

Not that it matters, because here he is asking to hang out with you, and who would you be to deny him?

"It was a hell of a lot of shenanigans. I can fill you in some time, if you'd like." You let the corner of your mouth twitch up, just a bit, and he flashes a grin right back at you. It's a different smile from what you saw during interviews and directors cuts, more teeth and looser in the cheeks. Something honest, you think, and that adds to the bewildered feeling you've been grappling with since this whole revival thing started.

"Sure. Hell yeah, dude, I'd love to hear it. Fuck, fill me in on everything, I missed out on, what, fifteen years already?" He looks you over again, maybe squinting behind his shades, maybe not.

"Sixteen." You offer, and his expression goes through a few twists that you can't quite follow before settling back into something unreadable.

"Right. I'm gonna spoil the hell outta you once we get, uh- where exactly are we right-" His brief look around stutters to a halt right along with his words. You follow his gaze to where Karkat and Terezi are standing off to the side. Quickly, you latch a hand onto his arm and squeeze.

"They're cool. They helped us take down the Batterwitch and win." Your bro tenses for a second, then nods. He doesn't move for a couple more moments, long enough that you think you might have to poke him again, before his arm suddenly winds up around your shoulder and he repositions at your side. You've gotten used enough to the contact by now that you aren't too distracted to notice how that keeps his front to the trolls. Not that you can really blame him, all things considered.

"Right. Right... So she's dead? You got her?" He looks to you, or at least aims his shades your way. You aren't sure if his eyes are actually on you, though, or the rest of the platform.

"Yes. Or. More specifically, Roxy got her. I was involved in a different fight." You nod towards the lady of the hour, who's clinging to her mother and chattering animatedly to the other two Lalondes, plus one Kanaya. Dave's head turns a little to follow the motion, and you know he's actually looked going off of how still he suddenly gets. Whether that's because of seeing double or the troll holding the younger Rose around the waist, you aren't sure.

"I- Fuck, listen, I'm- Seeing you is super awesome. Like, I'm psyched beyond belief, but-" Your bro glances to you, then back towards the Lalondes. It takes you a moment before you realize he's looking at his Rose in particular.

"Dude, I'm not going to hold it against you if you want to talk to your sister." You nudge his back lightly and try another small smile for him. You expect he'll be off like a shot, and he is. But not before dragging you into one more tight hug. Your hands just manage to graze his back this time before he's flash-stepped away.

Roxy's laugh fills the air, bright and delighted, when Dave appears next to her mother and lifts her clean off her feet. Older Rose lets herself get spun around a couple times before she's set down again, smiling with what looks like good-natured exasperation.

"Hello to you too, Dave." You hear her say, as you casually wander towards the group.

"Hey, Rose. Lookin' good for a dead gal." The smile Dave flashes her is every bit the false charm he usually displayed in Hollywood, and it's met with an eye roll and giggle respectively from the alpha-londes.

"I see your Freudian slips transcend time and space, brother dear." Rose - the younger one, gog you need better names for everyone - pipes up. Your bro looks to her sharply and you watch his eyebrows climb for a moment before smoothing back out.

"What, no. That was a perfectly innocent platonic compliment, first of all. And second of all I'm gonna need some elaboration on that time and space thing, 'cause I'm getting the distinct impression that you're not the only mini running around here."

"Technically, all of us kiddos are minis now that John and Janey are gettin' all the guardians back." Roxy pipes up, jabbing a thumb at her older counterpart for emphasis. Dave does a double-take between them, and you have to admire how well he keeps a straight face with all the blatantly weird shit that's been thrown at him in the past five minutes.

"Right, and that happened how?"

"Shenanigans." You offer, finally meandering within conversation distance of the group. Roxy snorts and finally detaches from her mother's side for the sole purpose of playfully punching your arm. You don't really budge or give any visible sign of how much that hurt, but you do level her with the same kind of unimpressed poker face your bro's aiming at you. "I do use that arm, Rox."

"Please, your arm'll survive. 'N it's a perfectly fair price for such a lame answer!" She throws her arm around your shoulders, looser and much more natural than your bro's.

"I was under a verbal contract that stated that it was a perfectly acceptable answer."

"Contract revoked. Gimme details." Dave says, like the traitor that he is. You redirect your bland look his way, but Roxy's giggling again and the corner of your mouth is twitching upwards despite you.

"We should have time for a brief explanation before it's time to move on." Rose pipes up. "Although, it will be a severely abridged version of a much more convoluted story."

"Even a bare-bones explanation is better than none." Roxy's mom says, and for a moment, you're treated to front row seats of a slightly awkward stare-off between Roses. It ends in short order when the younger nods, thankfully, and she clears her throat before continuing.

"Allow me, then."

And the whole lot of you do. It's much easier to take a back seat and let Rose explain things. She has a better grasp on the Scratch and how to describe it anyways, and it becomes pretty clear after a couple minutes that she thrives off of sharing information. She has an almost hungry look on her face as she details the trans-universal effects, occasionally spiralling off into theories and observations she's made until Kanaya reels her back with a softly cleared throat or nudge.

It goes on long enough that you barely notice Jade English and John Crocker respectively being brought around. Long enough that the other two Striders return on their own, since all three guardians in your little group keep coming up with questions and feeding the Light player beast.

You turn a little to watch Dave and his bro land. The former glances your way and you share a chill nod. It's subtle, but it seems to be enough of a disturbance that your bro's taken notice.

"Damn, that's trippy." He says, suddenly leaning over your shoulder. It is, honestly. Meeting a younger version of the Dave Strider you knew was odd, but you had been prepared for it. Looking at yourself but twice as old is just bizarre, even after your frequent exposure to your splinters. All of those, at least, had been within the same age range, but now you're seeing yourself at an age you sometimes wondered if you'd ever reach.

He moves more gracefully than you, you notice. He's got a new pair of shades on, despite resurrecting with none. Probably had them in his Sylladex. That's where you keep your spare shades when you're away from your apartment. Which...might just be dust now, going off of the chunk taken out of LOTAK. Damn.

"Ohhh my gawd, Dirk!" Older Roxy's the one to take the social reins, and it's. It's odd, watching the way he goes perfectly still, not rigid but blank and unmoving at first as Lalonde drags him into a hug. He does return it after a moment, one-armed and a bit awkward, patting between her shoulder blades. But as you'd expect from a Roxy, she doesn't seem bothered. She straightens up and leaves her hand on his shoulder, smiling the same bright smile as she chatters away.

"Huh. Guess things don't really change much across universes." Your bro comments, which makes you suddenly aware again of the Roxy still leaning on you. She snorts and squeezes around your neck. A gesture which you bend over slightly, definitely not metaphorically backwards, for her.

"Yeah, totes. Dirk's a big softie when it comes to his friends." She sends a big wink over your head at your Dave, and you subtly elbow her in the ribs for it. Not that you're ashamed, exactly. It's been pretty well-established that you'd do just about anything for your friends, but there are cooler ways to put it than 'soft'.

"I suppose that's another thing you and Dave have in common." Older Rose pipes up, sending a wink your way now. Dave makes some kind of distressed noise in the back of his throat and scowls at his sister, but you can see- Hah, you can see a bit of color on his face. That's a little reassuring, actually. Nice of the Lalondes to even the playing field.

"And don't you forget it, Lalonde." Dave snips, swatting Rose's arm and getting an elbowed shoulder back for his troubles.

"I would never." She coos, voice sweet as honey and eyes sharp as knives. You're sure their little exchange could go on for a lot longer, but Older Roxy comes bouncing back over with Dave's Bro in tow, Dave himself trailing a little ways behind them.

"See? I forgot how fuckin' cute you were when you were all lil'." Roxy senior beams. You're now perfectly blank face to perfectly blank face with your double, and it feels...incredibly fucking awkward, you won't lie.

At least up close, you can take better stock of him. Pick apart every little difference and similarity, see where you'll change and where you'll stay the same, see how he holds himself and note where your postures align and differentiate.

Roxy grumbles something inaudible by your ear, and it's enough to snap you out of stasis and twitch a little. That seems to be what ends the deadlock, and Dave's Bro flicks his chin at you slightly.

"Sup."

Okay, chill guy fronting. That's easy, at least.

"Hey." You greet back, calm and collected and not at all regretting again how stupid your god-tier PJs look right now. Especially next to a version of you who's clearly perfected the art of dressing ironically, coolly douchy.

It's around this point that you've noticed that Dave has stalled in his tracks, looking with a straight face up and slightly to your left. At your bro, you realize, and you glance over your shoulder to find him staring right back with the same expression. Seems like they're going through the same trip you just finished. You're fully prepared to let that draw on to its natural conclusion, except that a sudden, loud clap rings through the air and snaps everyone's attention towards the center of the lily pad.

"Alright, everyone! Are we all ready to move on, now?" Jane calls, hands clasped together as she looks around. It's clear she's not very comfortable with so much attention on her, but she's got John and Karkat flanking her and keeping her head high. You note the last part with a bit of pride, though you can hardly take any credit for it. She's come a long way. All of you have.

There's a lot of murmuring for a few moments, but no objections come after a good ten or so seconds of waiting.

"Then let's put this miserable expanse of corpse-riddled hoofbeast shit behind us and _go_ already!" Karkat bellows.

"...That guy, huh?" You hear alt-you mutter to Dave. He glances up slightly to his bro and nods, voice landing somewhere within the realm of wry amusement.

"That's the one."

Hm. What an interesting tidbit of not your business to ignore. Instead, you can watch the three leaders of your respective sessions approach the door, all reaching forwards slowly in tandem with each other.

"Guess that's the way to the new universe?" Your bro asks, leaned so close to your ear that you almost startle at his quiet question.

"Yep." You sneak a quick glance towards the door again, where the leaders are gripping the handle. The thought crosses your mind to say something ironically cheesy, like 'see you on the other side' or some shit, but you don't get the chance. The door cracks open, and white light pours out to fulfill the ironic cliche quota.

Oh well. You can joke around later. Because against all odds, you now have a 'later' with your bro.


End file.
